Left side of the rifle showing charging handle, magazine, bolt hold open lever, safety lever and disassembly lever
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Dream Theater's 8th Album... Octavarium
Dream Theater is one of my favorite bands and they've just released their 8th studio album called Octavarium. This is a "local" band in a way as most of the members are from Long Island. They play progressive metal, a style of music that is a cut above other forms of metal in my opinion. Typically, progressive metal bands feature virtuoso players who are incredibly knowledgeable about music theory and song writing. Their sound and musical arrangements are usually very complex and they can pull off the sound quite well on stage. Usually, prog bands sound just like their albums while playing live, unless they choose to embellish or stylize their songs. Synthesizers are usually part of the mix in prog bands.
This band is home to one of my favorite drummers - a man who can give Neil Peart of Rush a run for his money. His name is Mike Portnoy and he's from Long Beach, Long Island. The band's guitarist, John Petrucci, is another one of my favorite musicians and hails from King's Park, Long Island.
Unfortunately, I am not too excited about this release. I don't know... they just seem to be coasting a bit now. I may need to give it several listens to get into it though. All I know is I didn't listen to it on the way to work the morning after I bought it. I've always liked Dream Theater for the Music, not really the vocals. It seems that the vocals and keyboard are given the more control of the songs on this album. They may be trying something different... or I am just mistaken. Overall, I'm just not really impressed with this album when compared to other things they've done. Don't get me wrong... these guys are more impressive on a bad day than any act you hear on the radio. They just seem to be putting out stuff recently that is not on par with their earlier stuff as far as complexity and high-level playing. It's just unimpressive as far as the Dream Theater music scale is concerned... they have set the bar pretty high for themselves though.
My feelings on this release are especially disappointing seeing as I have pretty much written off the music of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, two of my favorite virtuoso guitarists. They seem to have fallen victim to the "just lay down a rhythm track and jam over it" approach to song writing. I expect better from them. I was hoping this Dream Theater album would restore my faith in my musical heroes.
Anyway, the album art is pretty cool and features symbolic imagery focusing on the number 5 (number of band members) and 8 (8th album... Octivarium... you get it). Back to the music now... I think most of it will grow on me... but several of the songs will leave me saying, "What's up with this?" for a while. Let's go song by song:
Track 01 - Root of all Evil: This song is one of the cooler songs on the album. It contains some riffs from their previous release, Train of Thought and follows the aggressive feel of that album. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a leftover from the time when they were writing/recording Train of Thought. I like listening to it... it has a good groove. The guitar solo is a little low in the mix... the keyboard solo is stressed more. There's a cool moment of keyboard interaction in there for a few seconds. 4 of 5
Track 02 - The Answer Lies Within: This is a ballad that reminds me of some parts of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Mostly piano, background guitar and even some orchestral stringed instruments. Not to sound harsh, but I usually skip this one. 1 of 5
Track 03 - These Walls: I like this one. The heavy parts sound a lot like the style of Linkin Park. No rap, scratching records, or monotone screaming blonde haired dude though (good thing). There's a 6/8 - 5/8 time thing going on in this one. The drums during the quiet vocal parts feature a lot of cymbal and hi-hat work by Portnoy making the section a lot more interesting. This song is more radio friendly than most of their stuff. Maybe I'll actually hear it on the radio some time soon? 4 of 5
Track 04 - I Walk Beside You: This is one of those encouraging feel-good ballads that belongs on a movie soundtrack. It's pretty quiet in the verse. Portnoy fills this in nicely with some cool drumming. It's okay I guess, but a little too "Wind Beneath My Wings" for me. Some sections remind me of Rush's Presto album for some reason. 3 of 5
Track 05 - Panic Attack: This song is a 5/8 time metal monster. It's kind of odd, but it reminds me of a song my friend Walter wrote for acoustic guitar. They ripped off my boy's riff! I always think of that when I hear this song. There's some good keyboard - guitar stuff in here and some nicely fitting Petrucci finger acrobatics. The occasional high pitched vocals in this one that don't seem to fit. I really like this one in spite of that though. Good solid Dream Theater head banging song. 5 of 5
Track 06 - Never Enough: This song is kind of weird, but I like it somehow. It's hard to describe this one, it seems to mix musical styles. This one is very "progressive" in my opinion... just... different. It has a lot of cool parts that I like to hear. The changes are arranged very well and everything fits. The drums are really cool in this one. I like this one too. 5 of 5
Track 07 - Sacrificed Sons: This song is the albums political activist song. Because of that it's along the lines of "The Great Debate" and "In The Name of God" and deals with terrorism. It's a little eerie sounding and there's an odd time jam in the middle that's cool I guess. 3 of 5
Track 08 - Octivarium: This song is the epic of the album, clocking in at 24 minutes. It has a very Pink Floyd-ish beginning that lasts nearly 4 minutes before heavy guitars kick in. They are then replaced by an acoustic guitar and a flute section. Then the vocals come in. Awesome drums, subdued guitars and piano This song also reminds me of parts of Six Degrees. This song is kind of slow, but I can foresee it growing on me. It has a lot of cool things going on musically. I like the keyboard solo. I'd have to say that this is classic prog. It may not be my favorite as far as their epics go, but I have to give them credit for it. It is has some cool ideas. Cool guitar-keyboard interaction. 5 of 5
In writing this review, I listened to the each song very carefully while typing my thoughts. It's better than I gave it credit for when I started this according to my number ratings. On my initial listen I was disappointed, but this album may grow on me. Still, I don't find myself saying, "Man, I want to hear (insert any song here)." There's some things I don't like about it, but overall I guess the DT guys can be proud of themselves. It's not good for bands to keep doing the same thing all the time I guess. You can read some other reviews of the CD here.
I've just found out that John Petrucci's solo album, Suspended Animation, has been released I am looking forward to hearing that. I have heard most of the songs on it performed live during the G3 Tour he was a part of. This was over 3 years ago and he announced at the show that these songs would be featured on his new solo album. I've been waiting for a long time John! That's okay... Eric Johnson made me wait a long time for his "new" album too. It comes out Tuesday and I can't wait.
All right... all right! I'll give Octavarium another chance!
This band is home to one of my favorite drummers - a man who can give Neil Peart of Rush a run for his money. His name is Mike Portnoy and he's from Long Beach, Long Island. The band's guitarist, John Petrucci, is another one of my favorite musicians and hails from King's Park, Long Island.
Unfortunately, I am not too excited about this release. I don't know... they just seem to be coasting a bit now. I may need to give it several listens to get into it though. All I know is I didn't listen to it on the way to work the morning after I bought it. I've always liked Dream Theater for the Music, not really the vocals. It seems that the vocals and keyboard are given the more control of the songs on this album. They may be trying something different... or I am just mistaken. Overall, I'm just not really impressed with this album when compared to other things they've done. Don't get me wrong... these guys are more impressive on a bad day than any act you hear on the radio. They just seem to be putting out stuff recently that is not on par with their earlier stuff as far as complexity and high-level playing. It's just unimpressive as far as the Dream Theater music scale is concerned... they have set the bar pretty high for themselves though.
My feelings on this release are especially disappointing seeing as I have pretty much written off the music of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, two of my favorite virtuoso guitarists. They seem to have fallen victim to the "just lay down a rhythm track and jam over it" approach to song writing. I expect better from them. I was hoping this Dream Theater album would restore my faith in my musical heroes.
Anyway, the album art is pretty cool and features symbolic imagery focusing on the number 5 (number of band members) and 8 (8th album... Octivarium... you get it). Back to the music now... I think most of it will grow on me... but several of the songs will leave me saying, "What's up with this?" for a while. Let's go song by song:
Track 01 - Root of all Evil: This song is one of the cooler songs on the album. It contains some riffs from their previous release, Train of Thought and follows the aggressive feel of that album. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a leftover from the time when they were writing/recording Train of Thought. I like listening to it... it has a good groove. The guitar solo is a little low in the mix... the keyboard solo is stressed more. There's a cool moment of keyboard interaction in there for a few seconds. 4 of 5
Track 02 - The Answer Lies Within: This is a ballad that reminds me of some parts of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Mostly piano, background guitar and even some orchestral stringed instruments. Not to sound harsh, but I usually skip this one. 1 of 5
Track 03 - These Walls: I like this one. The heavy parts sound a lot like the style of Linkin Park. No rap, scratching records, or monotone screaming blonde haired dude though (good thing). There's a 6/8 - 5/8 time thing going on in this one. The drums during the quiet vocal parts feature a lot of cymbal and hi-hat work by Portnoy making the section a lot more interesting. This song is more radio friendly than most of their stuff. Maybe I'll actually hear it on the radio some time soon? 4 of 5
Track 04 - I Walk Beside You: This is one of those encouraging feel-good ballads that belongs on a movie soundtrack. It's pretty quiet in the verse. Portnoy fills this in nicely with some cool drumming. It's okay I guess, but a little too "Wind Beneath My Wings" for me. Some sections remind me of Rush's Presto album for some reason. 3 of 5
Track 05 - Panic Attack: This song is a 5/8 time metal monster. It's kind of odd, but it reminds me of a song my friend Walter wrote for acoustic guitar. They ripped off my boy's riff! I always think of that when I hear this song. There's some good keyboard - guitar stuff in here and some nicely fitting Petrucci finger acrobatics. The occasional high pitched vocals in this one that don't seem to fit. I really like this one in spite of that though. Good solid Dream Theater head banging song. 5 of 5
Track 06 - Never Enough: This song is kind of weird, but I like it somehow. It's hard to describe this one, it seems to mix musical styles. This one is very "progressive" in my opinion... just... different. It has a lot of cool parts that I like to hear. The changes are arranged very well and everything fits. The drums are really cool in this one. I like this one too. 5 of 5
Track 07 - Sacrificed Sons: This song is the albums political activist song. Because of that it's along the lines of "The Great Debate" and "In The Name of God" and deals with terrorism. It's a little eerie sounding and there's an odd time jam in the middle that's cool I guess. 3 of 5
Track 08 - Octivarium: This song is the epic of the album, clocking in at 24 minutes. It has a very Pink Floyd-ish beginning that lasts nearly 4 minutes before heavy guitars kick in. They are then replaced by an acoustic guitar and a flute section. Then the vocals come in. Awesome drums, subdued guitars and piano This song also reminds me of parts of Six Degrees. This song is kind of slow, but I can foresee it growing on me. It has a lot of cool things going on musically. I like the keyboard solo. I'd have to say that this is classic prog. It may not be my favorite as far as their epics go, but I have to give them credit for it. It is has some cool ideas. Cool guitar-keyboard interaction. 5 of 5
In writing this review, I listened to the each song very carefully while typing my thoughts. It's better than I gave it credit for when I started this according to my number ratings. On my initial listen I was disappointed, but this album may grow on me. Still, I don't find myself saying, "Man, I want to hear (insert any song here)." There's some things I don't like about it, but overall I guess the DT guys can be proud of themselves. It's not good for bands to keep doing the same thing all the time I guess. You can read some other reviews of the CD here.
I've just found out that John Petrucci's solo album, Suspended Animation, has been released I am looking forward to hearing that. I have heard most of the songs on it performed live during the G3 Tour he was a part of. This was over 3 years ago and he announced at the show that these songs would be featured on his new solo album. I've been waiting for a long time John! That's okay... Eric Johnson made me wait a long time for his "new" album too. It comes out Tuesday and I can't wait.
All right... all right! I'll give Octavarium another chance!
Monday, May 30, 2005
Star Wars: Episode III review
DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM...SPOILERS TO FOLLOW!
So I went to see Episode III of Star Wars, the last film in the "prequel" Trilogy series. In short, it was better than Phantom Menace (Episode I) and Attack of the Clones (Episode II), but nowhere near as good as the original trilogy. Sure the special effects are better, but the story and the acting in the modern Star Wars films leave a lot to be desired. Perhaps it is because the original trilogy holds such a special place in my heart from having watched it so many times growing up. I just can't get into the new films as much.
About the Story:
Episode III's story line was the best of the prequel trilogy. This may be because it focuses on a serious and someone dark theme - the transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. I did like how the plot evolved causing Anakin to question his Jedi masters when they put him in certain positions he felt to be unethical. Anakin became confused about whom he should trust and the motivations of the Jedi council. Upon learning the identity of the elusive Sith lord (Palpatine), he attempted to do the right thing by turning him in, but his Jedi training would not allow him to accept the execution of Emporer Palpatine by Mace Windu. After all, Palpatine had become very friendly with Anikin.
Through most of the film Palpatine had been egging Anakin on to disobey the Jedi council. It was no secret that Anikin was dissatisfied with his mentoring. This was a major theme during Episode II. In that film, he expressed on numerous occasions that he felt he was being held back. True, his abilities were great and his skills strong. What he was lacking was the emotional stability to progress any further toward the title of Jedi Master. Anakin refused to see this and instead took the attitude that his mentors were jealous of his exeptional skills. Palpatine agreed with Anakin, telling the young Jedi what he wanted to hear and pretending to befriend him. Obviously this was all manipulation. The secret emotional attachment of Anakin to Senator Amidala was another strong factor causing Anakin's emotions to get the better of him. His premonitions of her death created much fear in him. He could not resist the idea that learning the secrets of the Dark Side of the Force may be able to prevent her death.
There were other sub-plots as well. The capture of General Grievous, the politics in the senate and the continuation of the clone wars. These were all secondary though.
Special Effects:
The special effects in this movie were out of hand. Every shot in this film had some kind of CGI something going on in the background or the foreground. Look out the window behind the dialoguing characters and you'll see a highway in the sky full of spaceship traffic. Maybe there are computer generated robots or aliens in the room talking with the characters. There was always something going on. These CGI guys are really starting to show off now with all this grutuitous stuff.
The battle scenes were unreal. Whether in space or on some planet somewhere, there was just waaaaay to much to focus on. This movie must be watched several times just to grasp the awesome computer graphics. And then there are the lightsaber battles. They are much more exciting than those in the original trilogy, but suffer a little from Matrix-ism. That's okay I guess... these are Jedi masters. Nobody needs to tell Obi-Wan that "there is no spoon" if you know what I mean.
The sounds were really cool as well. I consider sounds to be special effects... they're just auditory rather than visual. Sounds are a very important part of making the unreal that much more believable. Many of the sounds in sci-fi films like Star Wars a are not things you have ever heard, but they follow the rules of sound that we are used to. All except that "no sound in space" rule. That one has gone out the window long ago as far as sci-fi space movies are concerned.
What I didn't Like:
Well, there was some goofiness in this movie. I have to admit that the comic relief was less corny than in Episode I or II. They still managed to throw in a Tarzan vocal coming out of a wookie swinging on a vine. Then there was that iguana thing that Obi-Wan rode on. That was pretty dumb. Then there was Natalie Portman's dialogue. I think she has the potential to be a great actress, but these love story lines they give her make me sigh and shake my head in disapproval. At least the Han Solo - Princess Leia thing worked. What was up with General Greivous' wheezing and why were his innards so unprotected?
I also had a problem with they way they felt the need to tie EVERYTHING together. It was just too neat. Why did Yoda have to know Chewbacca? I don't even really know the neighbors at the end of my block. Why did Obi-Wan have to be the reason for Darth Vader becoming "more machine than he is man" as explained in A New Hope (Episode IV)? Why did something have to cause the emporer to be come all wrinkly and pale and why was he so goofy and Mad-Hatter like when he entered Dark Side mode? The other thing I noticed is that they use any excuse to show off some new location. A lava planet, a forest planet, a planet that looks like a refrigerator case in a florist shop. True this was done in the original movies, but it just seemed more like a "look what we can make on a computer" type of thing. The Darth Vader "Nooooooooo!" thing was just stupid and he looked like Frankenstein's monster at one point.
What I Did Like:
As I said before, the special effects (though sometimes a bit overboard) were cool as were the sounds. This movie had a better story. I liked the serious and somewhat dark nature of this film. I liked the young Jedi in training that tried to protect senator Organa. I liked Greivous' four lightsabers at once fighting technique. Yoda was awesome... you know what I mean if you've seen the movie. The vehicles were really cool and started to evolve into the Empirial look we are used to seeing in the first group of films. The blockade runner made an appearance, albeit slightly modernized. They should have done this with all the "new" Star Wars films... slightly modify the old look instead of making the stuff from the prequel look more technologically advanced than the stuff in the original trilogy.
This movie is fun to watch; I've seen it twice so far. It is definately on my "DVDs to buy" list.
So I went to see Episode III of Star Wars, the last film in the "prequel" Trilogy series. In short, it was better than Phantom Menace (Episode I) and Attack of the Clones (Episode II), but nowhere near as good as the original trilogy. Sure the special effects are better, but the story and the acting in the modern Star Wars films leave a lot to be desired. Perhaps it is because the original trilogy holds such a special place in my heart from having watched it so many times growing up. I just can't get into the new films as much.
About the Story:
Episode III's story line was the best of the prequel trilogy. This may be because it focuses on a serious and someone dark theme - the transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. I did like how the plot evolved causing Anakin to question his Jedi masters when they put him in certain positions he felt to be unethical. Anakin became confused about whom he should trust and the motivations of the Jedi council. Upon learning the identity of the elusive Sith lord (Palpatine), he attempted to do the right thing by turning him in, but his Jedi training would not allow him to accept the execution of Emporer Palpatine by Mace Windu. After all, Palpatine had become very friendly with Anikin.
Through most of the film Palpatine had been egging Anakin on to disobey the Jedi council. It was no secret that Anikin was dissatisfied with his mentoring. This was a major theme during Episode II. In that film, he expressed on numerous occasions that he felt he was being held back. True, his abilities were great and his skills strong. What he was lacking was the emotional stability to progress any further toward the title of Jedi Master. Anakin refused to see this and instead took the attitude that his mentors were jealous of his exeptional skills. Palpatine agreed with Anakin, telling the young Jedi what he wanted to hear and pretending to befriend him. Obviously this was all manipulation. The secret emotional attachment of Anakin to Senator Amidala was another strong factor causing Anakin's emotions to get the better of him. His premonitions of her death created much fear in him. He could not resist the idea that learning the secrets of the Dark Side of the Force may be able to prevent her death.
There were other sub-plots as well. The capture of General Grievous, the politics in the senate and the continuation of the clone wars. These were all secondary though.
Special Effects:
The special effects in this movie were out of hand. Every shot in this film had some kind of CGI something going on in the background or the foreground. Look out the window behind the dialoguing characters and you'll see a highway in the sky full of spaceship traffic. Maybe there are computer generated robots or aliens in the room talking with the characters. There was always something going on. These CGI guys are really starting to show off now with all this grutuitous stuff.
The battle scenes were unreal. Whether in space or on some planet somewhere, there was just waaaaay to much to focus on. This movie must be watched several times just to grasp the awesome computer graphics. And then there are the lightsaber battles. They are much more exciting than those in the original trilogy, but suffer a little from Matrix-ism. That's okay I guess... these are Jedi masters. Nobody needs to tell Obi-Wan that "there is no spoon" if you know what I mean.
The sounds were really cool as well. I consider sounds to be special effects... they're just auditory rather than visual. Sounds are a very important part of making the unreal that much more believable. Many of the sounds in sci-fi films like Star Wars a are not things you have ever heard, but they follow the rules of sound that we are used to. All except that "no sound in space" rule. That one has gone out the window long ago as far as sci-fi space movies are concerned.
What I didn't Like:
Well, there was some goofiness in this movie. I have to admit that the comic relief was less corny than in Episode I or II. They still managed to throw in a Tarzan vocal coming out of a wookie swinging on a vine. Then there was that iguana thing that Obi-Wan rode on. That was pretty dumb. Then there was Natalie Portman's dialogue. I think she has the potential to be a great actress, but these love story lines they give her make me sigh and shake my head in disapproval. At least the Han Solo - Princess Leia thing worked. What was up with General Greivous' wheezing and why were his innards so unprotected?
I also had a problem with they way they felt the need to tie EVERYTHING together. It was just too neat. Why did Yoda have to know Chewbacca? I don't even really know the neighbors at the end of my block. Why did Obi-Wan have to be the reason for Darth Vader becoming "more machine than he is man" as explained in A New Hope (Episode IV)? Why did something have to cause the emporer to be come all wrinkly and pale and why was he so goofy and Mad-Hatter like when he entered Dark Side mode? The other thing I noticed is that they use any excuse to show off some new location. A lava planet, a forest planet, a planet that looks like a refrigerator case in a florist shop. True this was done in the original movies, but it just seemed more like a "look what we can make on a computer" type of thing. The Darth Vader "Nooooooooo!" thing was just stupid and he looked like Frankenstein's monster at one point.
What I Did Like:
As I said before, the special effects (though sometimes a bit overboard) were cool as were the sounds. This movie had a better story. I liked the serious and somewhat dark nature of this film. I liked the young Jedi in training that tried to protect senator Organa. I liked Greivous' four lightsabers at once fighting technique. Yoda was awesome... you know what I mean if you've seen the movie. The vehicles were really cool and started to evolve into the Empirial look we are used to seeing in the first group of films. The blockade runner made an appearance, albeit slightly modernized. They should have done this with all the "new" Star Wars films... slightly modify the old look instead of making the stuff from the prequel look more technologically advanced than the stuff in the original trilogy.
This movie is fun to watch; I've seen it twice so far. It is definately on my "DVDs to buy" list.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Fun day out at the range.
Recently I had a really fun day at the range. My Dad and I went to the Calverton rifle-pistol range out on Eastern Long Island. I hadn't been to this outdoor range in about 10 years or so. Since then, they have made it look a little nicer than I remember. We went on a weekday so it wasn't so packed... the shooters "ran the range" as there was no dedicated Range Officer.
I fired my 92FS and did poorly for some reason. I don't know what it is about that pistol, but I just can't use it nearly as well as the 1911. All that means is that I have to shoot it lots more (smiles). I left the 1911 at home that day but I brought the CX4 Storm. I'll say it again... that thing is ACCURATE. I had to shoot some stuff out at about 75 feet to make it fun. I was shooting a soda bottle someone left out at the far end of the handgun backstop. I even managed to tag it while it was tumbing through the air from a previous shot.
I guy from a few stalls over came and asked if he could try my Storm. He said he was thinking about buying one. I let him try it and he liked it. Then he offered to let me try his Bobcat, a clone of the HK MP5. I had been eyeing that thing since he got to the range and accepted his offer. The MP5 shoots 9mm pistol rounds and can be seen in movies like Lethal Weapon and any thing else where there are SWAT teams or Navy S.E.A.L.s fighting close quarters battles and shorty AR-15s / M16s are not suitable. Anyway, he had a bunch of stuff on this thing. He had some kind of long barrel and shroud, a vertical fore-grip, a light with pressure switch, an a $350 Trijicon ACOG reflex sight. The dot sight worked pretty well... but $350! I fired it well, but it had more recoil than I expected from 9mm rounds and felt like its internals were rattling around. Maybe all the attachments were vibrating or something. I also didn't like the vertical foregrip. It felt very foreign and tended to unbalance me a little. Still, it was a lot of fun. I wouldn't drop $1400 on that pistol caliber carbine though. Besides, I like my $700 Storm better.
The real fun was getting to shoot my Dad's M1 Garand. This rifle was used in WWII and the Korean War by American armed forces. It is a classic. It fires the Springfield 30.06 rifle round. My Dad had not taken it out in a while, but wanted me to try it as I was planning on purchasing a .30 caliber rifle (this one) and he wanted to see what I thought about a high power rifle round. You know what I thought? I loved it! It was a lot of fun to fire something out at a target 600 ft away and hit it. Actually, I was not shooting paper targets, but some leftover stuff people had placed out on the berm to shoot at. Using the iron peep sight setup I did pretty well. We had some problems with the cycling of the action. It wouldn't travel rearward far enough to eject a spent case, so i had to cycle it by hand. Seems the gas tube port was fouled. Nothing a little cleaning won't fix.
So I had a great day and am looking forward to the arrival of my DS Arms STG58 which I have since ordered. It is the Austrian version of the Belgian FN-FAL chambered in 7.62 x 51 NATO (or .308 Winchester, depending on what you'd like to call it). Yup... only 6-8 more weeks before I get it. I can make it... I can make it.
I fired my 92FS and did poorly for some reason. I don't know what it is about that pistol, but I just can't use it nearly as well as the 1911. All that means is that I have to shoot it lots more (smiles). I left the 1911 at home that day but I brought the CX4 Storm. I'll say it again... that thing is ACCURATE. I had to shoot some stuff out at about 75 feet to make it fun. I was shooting a soda bottle someone left out at the far end of the handgun backstop. I even managed to tag it while it was tumbing through the air from a previous shot.
I guy from a few stalls over came and asked if he could try my Storm. He said he was thinking about buying one. I let him try it and he liked it. Then he offered to let me try his Bobcat, a clone of the HK MP5. I had been eyeing that thing since he got to the range and accepted his offer. The MP5 shoots 9mm pistol rounds and can be seen in movies like Lethal Weapon and any thing else where there are SWAT teams or Navy S.E.A.L.s fighting close quarters battles and shorty AR-15s / M16s are not suitable. Anyway, he had a bunch of stuff on this thing. He had some kind of long barrel and shroud, a vertical fore-grip, a light with pressure switch, an a $350 Trijicon ACOG reflex sight. The dot sight worked pretty well... but $350! I fired it well, but it had more recoil than I expected from 9mm rounds and felt like its internals were rattling around. Maybe all the attachments were vibrating or something. I also didn't like the vertical foregrip. It felt very foreign and tended to unbalance me a little. Still, it was a lot of fun. I wouldn't drop $1400 on that pistol caliber carbine though. Besides, I like my $700 Storm better.
The real fun was getting to shoot my Dad's M1 Garand. This rifle was used in WWII and the Korean War by American armed forces. It is a classic. It fires the Springfield 30.06 rifle round. My Dad had not taken it out in a while, but wanted me to try it as I was planning on purchasing a .30 caliber rifle (this one) and he wanted to see what I thought about a high power rifle round. You know what I thought? I loved it! It was a lot of fun to fire something out at a target 600 ft away and hit it. Actually, I was not shooting paper targets, but some leftover stuff people had placed out on the berm to shoot at. Using the iron peep sight setup I did pretty well. We had some problems with the cycling of the action. It wouldn't travel rearward far enough to eject a spent case, so i had to cycle it by hand. Seems the gas tube port was fouled. Nothing a little cleaning won't fix.
So I had a great day and am looking forward to the arrival of my DS Arms STG58 which I have since ordered. It is the Austrian version of the Belgian FN-FAL chambered in 7.62 x 51 NATO (or .308 Winchester, depending on what you'd like to call it). Yup... only 6-8 more weeks before I get it. I can make it... I can make it.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Thursday, May 05, 2005
My Beretta CX4 Storm
"Man that thing looks weird... I'd never want something like that!" That was my reaction upon seeing Beretta's pistol caliber carbine named the CX4 Storm. Geez, the name was even corny! After seeing the Beretta Neos a while back, a ray gun looking .22 cal pistol, I thought "here we go again." Actually the Storm looked less like a sci-fi space gun and more like something that should be on a rifle rack in Tim Burton's version of the Bat mobile. All black plastic and swoopy lines. You can thank the designers over at Giugiaro Design in Italy for the look of both the CX4 and the Neos. Yup... definitely too silly looking for me to take seriously enough to consider buying. The Beretta 92FS I own is great, but this Storm is a little too weird... right?
So one day I am at my local range and I see a guy come in with a soft case that obviously had some type of pistol caliber carbine in it... no high power rifles allowed at this indoor range. Maybe it's a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 or a Hi-Point carbine? Then the thought of that weird Beretta carbine popped into my head, but I pretended not to be interested. After all, that gun just looks weird. Well pretty soon I noticed some Beretta 92 magazines getting unpacked out of the guy's range bag and he had no pistols for them to go in. That could only mean one thing - he definately had a Storm in that case.
I went back to shooting my 1911 and could hear that Storm firing two stalls away. I started to get curious and found myself standing behind the guy while he was shooting. I noticed ne had a red dot sight on it and was working on getting it zeroed. I tried to be subtle though and ran back to my stall whenever he picked up the screwdriver to adjust the red dot. Didn't want to get caught looking at something I was telling myself I would never want.
I packed up my stuff and as I was getting ready to leave he saw me looking over. He gave me a big grin, cocked his head to the side and said, "Wanna try it." I said nah, I was just checking it out. He then said, "Yeah... everyone always looks at this... c'mon." He quickly showed me the controls, loaded 5 rounds in a mag and handed the carbine over. I then proceeded to send all 5 rounds fired into the center of the target a the end of the range. I thanked him very much and offered him the use of my Kimber Custom TLE II (a 1911 style pistol in .45 caliber), but he said he has a 45 already. I left the range with a grin thinking, "how could I have looked down on that Beretta carbine without trying it?" I was hooked now, I had to have one. It was comfortable, accurate and easy to use.
I started researching the Storm online, reading the positive reviews and nodding "yes" in agreement. I decided I would buy one with my 2004 tax refund from Uncle Sam. I started having second thoughts about it though. I could get a pistol caliber carbine for much less. The Storm cost about the same as a handgun... and I'd be getting a whole rifle. Plus it was a Beretta and I already had plenty of compatible 92FS magazines and 9mm ammo around. Sure it would cost some bucks, but I already knew I would like it. I decided to go through with it, but didn't make it to tax time. I bought one for myself in March of 2005 and I am happy I did. There was a little hassle with the gun store under charging me by $100 and then asking me to come back and pay the difference. I am also still having some static with them related to an incorrect magazine included with the Storm when I bought it. Hopefully it will work out though. The CX4 Storm also came in a hard case with a cleaning kit, sight adjustment tool and a single side rail (in addition to the integral slide-out front rail).
Anyway, the carbine is great. My first target with a brand new rifle yielded a single ragged hole (OK... there were a few fliers, but not many). I duplicated this performance at the range's distance limit of 50 feet. I was very satisfied. Not much kick at all out of this thing, follow up shots are quick and it is ACCURATE. No need for a red dot. The iron (plastic) sights work great and are a long and short range peep sight setup that is fully adjustable.
Ammo went quick that day. I started loading up my pre-ban mags with 10 rounds at a time instead of 15 just to pace myself. I was having too much fun! Not one malfunction and I couldn't miss with the thing. My Father and Brother have tried the Stom and they both like it... the three of us have slightly different tastes in firearms, but all agree that the Storm is "a good one."
Disassembly for maintaining the Storm is super-easy... no tools required. Pull the mag out, cock the hammer back (be sure it's unloaded and leave it cocked back), push out the center retaining pin, pull the two halves apart, pull the bolt all the way to the rear, remove the cocking handle, and slide out the bolt assembly. That took about 4 times longer to type than it does to actually disassemble. Looking at it in pieces, you'll notice that the Storm is mostly plastic... I say polymer... makes me feel better about it. The bolt slide rails, the trigger, the HAMMER and the outer shell are all polymer. On each part of the rifle, there is some metal with the serial number engraved (lower half, upper half, rail attachement area, barrel, and bolt assembly).
The cheesy plastic cleaning rod included with the Storm works okay, but it is almost the exact diameter of the chamber. I've found I can't use a lot of patch when cleaning with it. Hoppes No. 9, a brush and patches for the barrel, CLP to clean the bolt assembly, a little grease on the rails, STP's Son of a Gun or Armorall for keeping the plastic outer shell looking nice.
So the gun I said I'd never own is now part of my collection and I do not regret it at all!
So one day I am at my local range and I see a guy come in with a soft case that obviously had some type of pistol caliber carbine in it... no high power rifles allowed at this indoor range. Maybe it's a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 or a Hi-Point carbine? Then the thought of that weird Beretta carbine popped into my head, but I pretended not to be interested. After all, that gun just looks weird. Well pretty soon I noticed some Beretta 92 magazines getting unpacked out of the guy's range bag and he had no pistols for them to go in. That could only mean one thing - he definately had a Storm in that case.
I went back to shooting my 1911 and could hear that Storm firing two stalls away. I started to get curious and found myself standing behind the guy while he was shooting. I noticed ne had a red dot sight on it and was working on getting it zeroed. I tried to be subtle though and ran back to my stall whenever he picked up the screwdriver to adjust the red dot. Didn't want to get caught looking at something I was telling myself I would never want.
I packed up my stuff and as I was getting ready to leave he saw me looking over. He gave me a big grin, cocked his head to the side and said, "Wanna try it." I said nah, I was just checking it out. He then said, "Yeah... everyone always looks at this... c'mon." He quickly showed me the controls, loaded 5 rounds in a mag and handed the carbine over. I then proceeded to send all 5 rounds fired into the center of the target a the end of the range. I thanked him very much and offered him the use of my Kimber Custom TLE II (a 1911 style pistol in .45 caliber), but he said he has a 45 already. I left the range with a grin thinking, "how could I have looked down on that Beretta carbine without trying it?" I was hooked now, I had to have one. It was comfortable, accurate and easy to use.
I started researching the Storm online, reading the positive reviews and nodding "yes" in agreement. I decided I would buy one with my 2004 tax refund from Uncle Sam. I started having second thoughts about it though. I could get a pistol caliber carbine for much less. The Storm cost about the same as a handgun... and I'd be getting a whole rifle. Plus it was a Beretta and I already had plenty of compatible 92FS magazines and 9mm ammo around. Sure it would cost some bucks, but I already knew I would like it. I decided to go through with it, but didn't make it to tax time. I bought one for myself in March of 2005 and I am happy I did. There was a little hassle with the gun store under charging me by $100 and then asking me to come back and pay the difference. I am also still having some static with them related to an incorrect magazine included with the Storm when I bought it. Hopefully it will work out though. The CX4 Storm also came in a hard case with a cleaning kit, sight adjustment tool and a single side rail (in addition to the integral slide-out front rail).
Anyway, the carbine is great. My first target with a brand new rifle yielded a single ragged hole (OK... there were a few fliers, but not many). I duplicated this performance at the range's distance limit of 50 feet. I was very satisfied. Not much kick at all out of this thing, follow up shots are quick and it is ACCURATE. No need for a red dot. The iron (plastic) sights work great and are a long and short range peep sight setup that is fully adjustable.
Ammo went quick that day. I started loading up my pre-ban mags with 10 rounds at a time instead of 15 just to pace myself. I was having too much fun! Not one malfunction and I couldn't miss with the thing. My Father and Brother have tried the Stom and they both like it... the three of us have slightly different tastes in firearms, but all agree that the Storm is "a good one."
Disassembly for maintaining the Storm is super-easy... no tools required. Pull the mag out, cock the hammer back (be sure it's unloaded and leave it cocked back), push out the center retaining pin, pull the two halves apart, pull the bolt all the way to the rear, remove the cocking handle, and slide out the bolt assembly. That took about 4 times longer to type than it does to actually disassemble. Looking at it in pieces, you'll notice that the Storm is mostly plastic... I say polymer... makes me feel better about it. The bolt slide rails, the trigger, the HAMMER and the outer shell are all polymer. On each part of the rifle, there is some metal with the serial number engraved (lower half, upper half, rail attachement area, barrel, and bolt assembly).
The cheesy plastic cleaning rod included with the Storm works okay, but it is almost the exact diameter of the chamber. I've found I can't use a lot of patch when cleaning with it. Hoppes No. 9, a brush and patches for the barrel, CLP to clean the bolt assembly, a little grease on the rails, STP's Son of a Gun or Armorall for keeping the plastic outer shell looking nice.
So the gun I said I'd never own is now part of my collection and I do not regret it at all!
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Half-Life 2: Best game... ever?
[Scroll down... screen shots after the text]
Okay... okay... I am 28 years old and I still play video games. Whew! I feel much better now that I have confessed. Actually, I shouldn't be embarassed. It seems that a lot of people pushing the 30 year old mark and beyond it play video games nowadays. It ain't all pimply faced kids clogging those online game servers - they are a bunch of pimply faced thirty-somethings too. Okay, not all of them have pimply faces I'm sure... but I bet most are single and male (like me).
One of my best friends is into console games and when I'm over at his place, we always wind up in front of the TV with controllers in our hands for hours on end. Man... it's easy to lose track of time when you are playing Halo on 2-player cooperative mode. Most of the games I am into are sci-fi or armed forces type First Person Shooters (or Simulators for the more politically correct types). In these games you get to control a World War II infantryman or space marine and you get to blow up stuff and sometimes drive vehicles. All this from the comfort of your sofa. Some of the games are really realistic, especially those historical recreations games like the Medal of Honor series or Call of Duty (I love this one). I was impressed while playing Halo at my friend's house and he very innocently said, "You know what game you should get... Half Life 2."
That was all he had to say. I started checking it out online. The screen shots looked awesome and reviews from players and game reviewers were glowing to say the least. The system requirements seemed too far advanced of what my now obsolete Compaq 900MHz machine could bear, but I decided to download the demo anyway. It worked well enough on my system with the graphics settings at medium to high levels. SOLD! I had to have this game. I found it online for about $20 cheaper than Best Buy (they usually have the cheapest prices for stuff like this). I didn't feel too guilty buying something that was gonna suck up my time at the lower price. It was delivered about 5 days after I placed the order.
So I installed it the day I got it. It took a really long time to do so, not because my PC is older, but because of the antipiracy system of installation. When installing, you must create an account with Valve Software's internet client called Steam. After installing the 5 CDs worth of data, Steam decrypts and decompresses all the data loaded onto your hard drive. All told, the process takes up about 1 hour of time and 3.5 GB of hard drive space. You actually can not install the game without an internet connection. Pretty snobby, huh? The installation also included a multiplayer Half-Life 2 themed game called Deathmatch and a terrorist vs. antiterrorist mission play game called Counter Strike. More on that later.
Half Life 2 game begins with a sort of dream sequence starring one of the creepy characters from the previous Half Life installment (reminds me of the Smoking Man from X-Files) speaking in a very condescending tone. His face fills the screen and his facial expressions are very lifelike and sync up perfectly with the audio. This fades away and you find yourself on a subway train. The sound effects are awesome and the graphics are beautiful. The train stops and the doors open. Another passenger mutters something sarcastic and you both get off the train.
Let me say here that the first 30 seconds of game play are very telling of what's to come. There are many details included to make the player feel like he is really there living in this fictitious environment... you really feel like the character. The first level is a kind of orientation that gets you used to the controls and gets you in the mood of the Eastern Block martial law environment of City 17. The founder of the area blabs a recorded message at you from a huge LCD screen hanging in the station. Here you have you first encounter with a member of Civil Protection. These guys have no sense of humor and don't like it when you make eye contact with them or encroach on their personal space. One CP hassles some guy very forcefully making him leave all his luggage behind. One minute into the game and you already hate these guys. No weapons yet though, can't do anything about them... have to obey them for now. You actually feel yourself sneering with contempt.
This first level is also where you become aware of just how interactive the experience is. Though the progression is somewhat linear, you are free to roam around and choose your path (in a way) as you interact. You can interact with other people to gain information. There is gravity here... real gravity! You pick stuff up and drop it and it bounces around until it comes to rest. You can push something, like a wheeled cart, and it will roll until friction takes over, slowing it to a stop. You can throw things short distances, you can open storage locker doors at the station and even get a soda from the vending machine! The graphics also help you lose yourself in this imaginary world. The sun streams in through skylights and casts realistic looking shadows as do the artificial lights. The stucco textures on the walls of the station look very lifelike as do all the other textures in the game. All objects and surfaces are very consistent unlike some games that try to mimic the look of reality. They also do not suffer from that "pasted on" look that texture maps often have. Once again... the sounds are awesome... very "real-life" as well.
I don't want to give too much of the story away for those of you that want to get this game. [WARNING: There are some spoilers in the screen shots at the end of this post] A lot of the fun is experiencing it first hand. Suffice it to say that while you do have friends in this game, there are a lot more enemies. This is where the "Shooter" in "First Person Shooter" comes in. While you do wind up with some out of this world and odd weapons in this game (I'll let you be surprised), there are some real world ones too. The game developers must like Heckler & Koch, because you wind up with and HK USP Match 9mm (the Tomb Raider pistol) and a MP7 sub-machine gun complete with genade launcher and red dot sight. A shiny chromed .44 magnum is found along the way. You also get a SPAZ 12 shotgun and a crossbow for long range shots, which has been modified to fire something more evil than arrows. Then there are the grenades which are very intuitive as far as the art of lobbing is concerned. That's pretty much everything I want to include here. You can get a preview of the other weapons in the screen shots.
This game isn't all mindless shooting though. There are some puzzles to figure out in order to proceed. We are not talking Myst or Riven type of “pulling your hair out where's the cheat book” puzzles, though they can be a little frustrating. When friends try this game, I tell them to pretend they are really there... to do what they would in real life to solve the problem. This problem solving involves looking around your environment as you would in real life. You need to contemplate what's lying around and use it to help you. Many puzzles are physics based requiring you to use gravity, buoyancy and other interactive physical forces to accomplish goals.
So it is safe to say that I like this game and recommend it to others. If you get board with it once you finish it, you can always play the multiplayer version set in the Half Life 2 universe called Deathmatch. Here the object is pretty much to frag the other players and get the highest score. There are a few official maps for it, but most of the maps are mods created by other gamers in the modification community.
These guys also love to create maps and models for the other game included in the Half Life 2 package called Counter Strike. This new installment of the popular online game uses the Half Life 2 Source engine to render graphics, sounds, physics, etc. This game is a mission based team game with two sides: terrorists and counter terrorists. There is a mission specified based for the map and a certain amount of time allotted to complete it. Depending on how quickly the mission objectives are met and the global time limit, you may play the same mission on the same map several times. How well your team did on the previous mission determines the amount of money that goes into your team’s bank account. This money is used to buy weapons, ammunition and other equipment, like body armor. Missions include rescuing hostages and defusing bombs. Recently the option to play with and against bots was added in a free program update. Since I do not know anyone else that has Counter Strike and the guys online eat, sleep, and breathe this game, the bots are enough for me.
So go out and get Half Life 2 and prepare to use up a lot of your free time playing it.
Okay... okay... I am 28 years old and I still play video games. Whew! I feel much better now that I have confessed. Actually, I shouldn't be embarassed. It seems that a lot of people pushing the 30 year old mark and beyond it play video games nowadays. It ain't all pimply faced kids clogging those online game servers - they are a bunch of pimply faced thirty-somethings too. Okay, not all of them have pimply faces I'm sure... but I bet most are single and male (like me).
One of my best friends is into console games and when I'm over at his place, we always wind up in front of the TV with controllers in our hands for hours on end. Man... it's easy to lose track of time when you are playing Halo on 2-player cooperative mode. Most of the games I am into are sci-fi or armed forces type First Person Shooters (or Simulators for the more politically correct types). In these games you get to control a World War II infantryman or space marine and you get to blow up stuff and sometimes drive vehicles. All this from the comfort of your sofa. Some of the games are really realistic, especially those historical recreations games like the Medal of Honor series or Call of Duty (I love this one). I was impressed while playing Halo at my friend's house and he very innocently said, "You know what game you should get... Half Life 2."
That was all he had to say. I started checking it out online. The screen shots looked awesome and reviews from players and game reviewers were glowing to say the least. The system requirements seemed too far advanced of what my now obsolete Compaq 900MHz machine could bear, but I decided to download the demo anyway. It worked well enough on my system with the graphics settings at medium to high levels. SOLD! I had to have this game. I found it online for about $20 cheaper than Best Buy (they usually have the cheapest prices for stuff like this). I didn't feel too guilty buying something that was gonna suck up my time at the lower price. It was delivered about 5 days after I placed the order.
So I installed it the day I got it. It took a really long time to do so, not because my PC is older, but because of the antipiracy system of installation. When installing, you must create an account with Valve Software's internet client called Steam. After installing the 5 CDs worth of data, Steam decrypts and decompresses all the data loaded onto your hard drive. All told, the process takes up about 1 hour of time and 3.5 GB of hard drive space. You actually can not install the game without an internet connection. Pretty snobby, huh? The installation also included a multiplayer Half-Life 2 themed game called Deathmatch and a terrorist vs. antiterrorist mission play game called Counter Strike. More on that later.
Half Life 2 game begins with a sort of dream sequence starring one of the creepy characters from the previous Half Life installment (reminds me of the Smoking Man from X-Files) speaking in a very condescending tone. His face fills the screen and his facial expressions are very lifelike and sync up perfectly with the audio. This fades away and you find yourself on a subway train. The sound effects are awesome and the graphics are beautiful. The train stops and the doors open. Another passenger mutters something sarcastic and you both get off the train.
Let me say here that the first 30 seconds of game play are very telling of what's to come. There are many details included to make the player feel like he is really there living in this fictitious environment... you really feel like the character. The first level is a kind of orientation that gets you used to the controls and gets you in the mood of the Eastern Block martial law environment of City 17. The founder of the area blabs a recorded message at you from a huge LCD screen hanging in the station. Here you have you first encounter with a member of Civil Protection. These guys have no sense of humor and don't like it when you make eye contact with them or encroach on their personal space. One CP hassles some guy very forcefully making him leave all his luggage behind. One minute into the game and you already hate these guys. No weapons yet though, can't do anything about them... have to obey them for now. You actually feel yourself sneering with contempt.
This first level is also where you become aware of just how interactive the experience is. Though the progression is somewhat linear, you are free to roam around and choose your path (in a way) as you interact. You can interact with other people to gain information. There is gravity here... real gravity! You pick stuff up and drop it and it bounces around until it comes to rest. You can push something, like a wheeled cart, and it will roll until friction takes over, slowing it to a stop. You can throw things short distances, you can open storage locker doors at the station and even get a soda from the vending machine! The graphics also help you lose yourself in this imaginary world. The sun streams in through skylights and casts realistic looking shadows as do the artificial lights. The stucco textures on the walls of the station look very lifelike as do all the other textures in the game. All objects and surfaces are very consistent unlike some games that try to mimic the look of reality. They also do not suffer from that "pasted on" look that texture maps often have. Once again... the sounds are awesome... very "real-life" as well.
I don't want to give too much of the story away for those of you that want to get this game. [WARNING: There are some spoilers in the screen shots at the end of this post] A lot of the fun is experiencing it first hand. Suffice it to say that while you do have friends in this game, there are a lot more enemies. This is where the "Shooter" in "First Person Shooter" comes in. While you do wind up with some out of this world and odd weapons in this game (I'll let you be surprised), there are some real world ones too. The game developers must like Heckler & Koch, because you wind up with and HK USP Match 9mm (the Tomb Raider pistol) and a MP7 sub-machine gun complete with genade launcher and red dot sight. A shiny chromed .44 magnum is found along the way. You also get a SPAZ 12 shotgun and a crossbow for long range shots, which has been modified to fire something more evil than arrows. Then there are the grenades which are very intuitive as far as the art of lobbing is concerned. That's pretty much everything I want to include here. You can get a preview of the other weapons in the screen shots.
This game isn't all mindless shooting though. There are some puzzles to figure out in order to proceed. We are not talking Myst or Riven type of “pulling your hair out where's the cheat book” puzzles, though they can be a little frustrating. When friends try this game, I tell them to pretend they are really there... to do what they would in real life to solve the problem. This problem solving involves looking around your environment as you would in real life. You need to contemplate what's lying around and use it to help you. Many puzzles are physics based requiring you to use gravity, buoyancy and other interactive physical forces to accomplish goals.
So it is safe to say that I like this game and recommend it to others. If you get board with it once you finish it, you can always play the multiplayer version set in the Half Life 2 universe called Deathmatch. Here the object is pretty much to frag the other players and get the highest score. There are a few official maps for it, but most of the maps are mods created by other gamers in the modification community.
These guys also love to create maps and models for the other game included in the Half Life 2 package called Counter Strike. This new installment of the popular online game uses the Half Life 2 Source engine to render graphics, sounds, physics, etc. This game is a mission based team game with two sides: terrorists and counter terrorists. There is a mission specified based for the map and a certain amount of time allotted to complete it. Depending on how quickly the mission objectives are met and the global time limit, you may play the same mission on the same map several times. How well your team did on the previous mission determines the amount of money that goes into your team’s bank account. This money is used to buy weapons, ammunition and other equipment, like body armor. Missions include rescuing hostages and defusing bombs. Recently the option to play with and against bots was added in a free program update. Since I do not know anyone else that has Counter Strike and the guys online eat, sleep, and breathe this game, the bots are enough for me.
So go out and get Half Life 2 and prepare to use up a lot of your free time playing it.
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